EKO Ash Emptying Ideas

[Eric Johnson]

I just use the tool that came with the boiler and a utility shovel to empty mine, but since we're getting my mom an EKO 60, I want her to have an easier way to handle the ash clean out. So, first, I'm wondering if anyone else has any bright ideas.

Secondly, I'm thinking I can make a tool out of a big, wide curved snow shovel with a galvanized or aluminum reducer vent riveted to one end. In practice, I'm thinking she can drag the ashes into the shovel, then pour it sideways through the funnel created by the reducer and into a can. This should help avoid a lot of sweeping and other mess.

If I can put together a prototype, I'll post a pic and a report.

 

[ewdudley]

If I had a chance to do it again I'd set the boiler up on a custom built ash cabinet about 20" high. There would be a mouth on the top of the cabinet about 6"-8" wide under the lower door that ashes could be dragged/dumped into. Plus an exhaust fan out the back of the cabinet that would suck out any dust in the air. Cabinet wouldn't have to be very big to hold the ashes for the whole season.

 

[Fred61]

Eric,
First off, be sure to raise the boiler off the floor enough so Mom won't have to hug the floor to work below but not so high that she has to muscle the wood up above the comfort level.
I use a small hoe ground to the radius of the U blocks and drag the ashes forward so they spill on to the floor of the lower chamber and then turn it over to the flat side and rake left and right of the blocks. I then rake them into a sieve box with 1/8 inch hardware mesh on the bottom that is setting on an oversized flat cake pan. Only the fines go through greatly reducing the amount of waste ash that needs to be disposed of. If she burns full time she probably won't get as much charcoal in the lower chamber as I do but I start a cold fire every day and while raking charcoal over the nozzle much falls through.
The cake pan could be engineered much like the ash pan on many of the Vermont Castings stoves with a sliding cover with a handle or you could drag your feet as I have and leave it in it's
original form and carry it out to the ash can.

 

[huffdawg]

I use a shopvac.. works great!

 

[Eric Johnson]

I like the idea of screening out the unburned chunks (my nozzles need replacing, so I get my share, too) for recycling back into the firebox, and I like the idea of having a removable pan set into or on the floor that can be filled, left to cool, and then disposed of. Scraping the ashes into a simple steel box with a lid would avoid the mess of trying to scrape them onto a a square shovel and then into a round bucket. Since we're pouring a floor for the boiler room to set on, we might try to build something into the floor. But I guess I prefer something less permanent, so getting the boiler to the right height for the contraption (and east of loading) probably makes more sense.

 

[avc8130]

Eric,
View attachment 148301 View attachment 148302

That looks like the tool that came with my Wood Gun.

Did you salvage that from your "$10k pile of scrap"?

 

[timberr]

I left my Eko 25 on the steel pallet and for the ash I just have a large aluminum turkey pan (actually 3 stacked for rigidity) that I drag the ash into. Outside of the basement I have a large metal trash can I put the ash in. I usually have very little charcoal; in the spring I lightly sprinkle ash on the lawn, in the garden anywhere that could use lime.

 

[Fred61]

I don't like the idea of setting a "clever idea" in concrete because there always seems to be modifications that come later. You don't need much space for a contraption that will make things easier for mom to process the ashes.

 

[Fred61]

That looks like the tool that came with my Wood Gun.

Did you salvage that from your "$10k pile of scrap"?

Actually, yes. the radius had to be ground to match the U blocks. Best thing Wood Gun ever made